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Assignment Set-1(60 marks)

1)Explain the structure of Mathematical model in OR. Ans:


The Structure of Mathematical Model

Many industrial and business situations are concerned with planning activities. In each case of planning, there are limited sources, such as men, machines, material and capital at the disposal of the planner. One has to

make decision regarding these resources in order to either maximize production, or minimize the cost of production or maximize the profit etc. These problems are referred to as the problems of constrained optimization. Linear programming is a technique for determining an optimal schedule of interdependent activities, for the given resources. Programming thus means planning and refers to the process of decision-making regarding particular plan of action amongst several available alternatives. Any business activity of production activity to be formulated as a mathematical model can best be discussed through its constituents; they are: - Decision Variables, - Objective function, - Constraints. Decision variables and parameters The decision variables are the unknowns to be determined from the solution of the model. The parameters represent the controlled variables of the system. Objective functions This defines the measure of effectiveness of the system as a mathematical function of its decision variables. The optimal solution to the model is obtained when the corresponding values of the decision variable yield the best value of the objective function while satisfying all constraints. Thus the objective function acts as an indicator for the achievement of the optimal solution. While formulating a problem the desire of the decision-maker is expressed as a function of n decision variables. This function is essentially a linear programming problem (i.e., each of its item will have only one variable raise to power one). Some of the Objective functions in practice are: - Maximization of contribution or profit - Minimization of cost

- Maximization of production rate or minimization of production time - Minimization of labour turnover - Minimization of overtime - Maximization of resource utilization - Minimization of risk to environment or factory etc. Constraints To account for the physical limitations of the system, the model must include constraints, which limit the decision variables to their feasible range or permissible values. These are expressed in the form of constraining mathematical functions. For example, in chemical industries, restrictions come from the government about throwing gases in the environment. Restrictions from sales department about the marketability of some products are also treated as constraints. A linear programming problem then has a set of constraints in practice. The mathematical models in OR may be viewed generally as determining the values of the decision variables x J, J = 1, 2, 3, ------ n, which will optimize Z = f (x 1, x 2, ---- x n). Subject to the constraints: g i (x 1, x 2 ----- x n) ~ b i, i = 1, 2, ---- m and xJ 0 j = 1, 2, 3 ---- n where ~ is , or =.

The function f is called the objective function, where g i ~ b i, represent the i th constraint for i = 1, 2, 3 ---- m where b i is a known constant. The constraints x j 0 are called the non-negativity condition, which restrict the variables to zero or positive values only. Example : A company sells two different products A and B. The company make a profit of R's. 30 and R's. 20 per unit of products A and B respectively. The two products are produced in a common production process. The production process has 25000 man-hours. To produce one unit

of product-A, it takes two man-hours and to produce one unit of productB, it takes three man-hours. The general manager feels that the maximum number of units of A that can be sold is 6000 and the maximum number of units of B that can be sold is 9000 units. Formulate the mathematical model in order to maximize the profit. Solution: Suppose x1 is the number of units of product-A produced, and x2 is the number of units of productB produced. Now we formulate the constraint related to man-hours. Since one unit of productA takes 2 man-hours, we have that x1 units of productA take 2x1 man-hours. Since one unit of productB takes 3 man-hours, we have that x2 units of productB take 3x2 man-hours. Therefore x1 units of productA and x2 units of productB take 2x1 + 3x2 man-hours. Since the availability is 25000 manhours, we have that 2x1 + 3x2 25000. Since the maximum number of units of productA that can be sold is 6000, we have that x1 6000. Since the maximum number of units of productB that can sold is 9000, we have that x2 9000. Since the number of units is always non-negative, we have x1 0, x2 0 . Now we formulate the profit function. The company makes a profit of R's. 30 on one unit of productA and R's.20 on one unit of product-B. Therefore the profit on x1 units of A is 30x1, and profit on x2 units of B is 20x2. Therefore profit on products A and B is given by the function: z = 30x1+20x2 where z denotes the profit. Hence the mathematical model is Maximize z = 30x1 + 20x2 Subject to 2x1 + 3x2 x1 6000 x2 9000, x1 0, x2 0. 25000

2. Explain briefly the graphical method of analyzing a linear programming problem. Can a LPP have unbounded solution?
Ans: Graphical Method to Solve the Linear Programming Problems A LPP with 2 decision variables x1 and x2 can be solved easily by graphical method. We consider the x1 x2 plane where we plot the solution space, which is the space enclosed by the constraints. Usually the solution space is a convex set which is bounded by a polygon; since a linear function attains extreme (maximum or minimum) values only on boundary of the region, it is sufficient to consider the vertices of the polygon and find the value of the objective function in these vertices. By comparing the vertices of the objective function at these vertices, we obtain the optimal solution of the problem. The method of solving a LPP on the basis of the above analysis is known as the graphical method. An Algorithm for solving a linear programming problem by Graphical Method: (This algorithm can be applied only for problems with two variables). Step I: Formulate the linear programming problem with two variables (if the given problem has more than two variables, then we cannot solve it by graphical method). Step II: Consider a given inequality. Suppose it is in the form a1x1 + a2x2 b (or a1x1 + a2x2 b). Then consider the relation a1x1 + a2x2 = b. Find two distinct points (k, l), (c, d) that lie on the straight line a1x1 + a2x2 = b. This can be found easily: If x1 = 0, then x2 = then x1 = . Therefore . If x2 = 0,

(k, l) = (0,

) and (c, d) = (

,0) are two points on the straight line

a1x1 +a2x2 = b. Step III: Represent these two points (k, l), (c, d) on the graph which denotes XY-axis plane. Join these two points and extend this line to get the straight line which represents a1x1 + a2x2 = b. Step IV: a1x1 + a2x2 = b divides the whole plane into two half planes, which are a1x1 + a2x2 b (one side) and a1x1 + a2x2 b (another side). Find the half plane that is related to the given inequality. Step V: Do step-II to step-IV for all the inequalities given in the problem. The intersection of the half-planes related to all the inequalities and x1 0, x2 0 , is called the feasible region ( or feasible solution space). Now find this feasible region. Step VI: The feasible region is a multisided figure with corner points A, B, C, (say). Find the co-ordinates for all these corner points. These corner points are called as extreme points. Step VII: Find the values of the objective function at all these corner/ extreme points. Step VIII: If the problem is a maximization (minimization) problem, then the maximum (minimum) value of z among the values of z at the corner/extreme points of the feasible region is the optimal value of z. If the optimal value exists at the corner/extreme point, say A(u, v), then we say that the solution x1 = u and x2 = v is an optimal feasible solution. Step IX : Write the conclusion (that include the optimum value of z, and the co-ordinates of the corner point at which the optimum value of z exists).

i) If the set of all values of the objective function at different feasible solutions is not bounded above, and if the problem is a maximization problem, then we say that the given problem has an unbounded solution. ii) If the set of all values of the objective function at different feasible solutions is not bounded below, and if the problem is a minimization problem, then we say that the given problem has an unbounded solution. In the following, we present an example with unbounded solution. Example 1 : Consider the given linear programming problem 2x1 + x2 70, x1 + x2 40, x1 + 3x2 90, x1 0, x2 0, max z = 40x1 + 60x2 . Solve it by graphical method. Solution: First we draw the corresponding straight lines in the graph. For this let us find the points on these lines. (Here we take x1 on X-axis and x2 on Y-axis).

The situation is illustrated in the figure given. Here the feasible solution space is unbounded. We are going to observe that the value of z at different points of the solution space has no upper bound. The three corner points of the feasible solution space are A(90, 0), B(24, 20), C(0, 70).
INCLUDEPICTURE "http://train-srv.manipalu.com/wpress/wpcontent/uploads/2010/07/clip-image0671.jpg" \* MERGEFORMATINET

Now we observe that no corner point of the feasible solution space provide the maximum value for z. To observe this, let us take a number M greater than 100. The point (M, M) is in the solution space. The value of z at this point is z = 40.M + 60.M = 100.M > M. Now we observed that any large number M is given, we can find a point in the feasible solution space such that the value of z (at this point) is greater than M. This means that the set of all values of z has no upper bound. This means that the given problem has an unbounded solution.

5) Explain Project Management (PERT)

Ans:
The Program (or Project) Evaluation and Review Technique, commonly abbreviated PERT, is a statistical tool, used in project management, that is designed to analyze and represent the tasks involved in completing a given project. First developed by the United States Navy in the 1950s, it is commonly used in conjunction with the critical path method or CPM.

PERT network chart for a seven-month project with five milestones (10 through 50) and six activities (A through F).

PERT is a method to analyze the involved tasks in completing a given project, especially the time needed to complete each task, and to identify the minimum time needed to complete the total project. PERT was developed primarily to simplify the planning and scheduling of large and complex projects. It was developed for the U.S. Navy Special Projects Office in 1957 to support the U.S. Navy's Polaris nuclear submarine project.[2] It was able to incorporate uncertainty by making it possible to

schedule a project while not knowing precisely the details and durations of all the activities. It is more of an event-oriented technique rather than startand completion-oriented, and is used more in projects where time, rather than cost, is the major factor. It is applied to very large-scale, one-time, complex, non-routine infrastructure and Research and Development projects. An example of this was for the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble which applied PERT from 1965 until the opening of the 1968 Games.[3] This project model was the first of its kind, a revival for scientific management, founded by Frederick Taylor (Taylorism) and later refined by Henry Ford (Fordism). DuPont's critical path method was invented at roughly the same time as PERT. Conventions:

A PERT chart is a tool that facilitates decision making. The first draft of a PERT chart will number its events sequentially in 10s (10, 20, 30, etc.) to allow the later insertion of additional events. Two consecutive events in a PERT chart are linked by activities, which are conventionally represented as arrows (see the diagram above). The events are presented in a logical sequence and no activity can commence until its immediately preceding event is completed. The planner decides which milestones should be PERT events and also decides their proper sequence. A PERT chart may have multiple pages with many sub-tasks.

PERT is valuable to manage where multiple tasks are occurring simultaneously to reduce redundancy. Terminology

PERT event: a point that marks the start or completion of one or more activities. It consumes no time and uses no resources. When it marks the completion of one or more tasks, it is not reached (does not occur) until all of the activities leading to that event have been completed.

predecessor event: an event that immediately precedes some other event without any other events intervening. An event can have multiple predecessor events and can be the predecessor of multiple events. successor event: an event that immediately follows some other event without any other intervening events. An event can have multiple successor events and can be the successor of multiple events. PERT activity: the actual performance of a task which consumes time and requires resources (such as labor, materials, space, machinery). It can be understood as representing the time, effort, and resources required to move from one event to another. A PERT activity cannot be performed until the predecessor event has occurred. optimistic time (O): the minimum possible time required to accomplish a task, assuming everything proceeds better than is normally expected pessimistic time (P): the maximum possible time required to accomplish a task, assuming everything goes wrong (but excluding major catastrophes). most likely time (M): the best estimate of the time required to accomplish a task, assuming everything proceeds as normal. expected time (TE): the best estimate of the time required to accomplish a task, accounting for the fact that things don't always proceed as normal (the implication being that the expected time is the average time the task would require if the task were repeated on a number of occasions over an extended period of time). TE = (O + 4M + P) 6

float or slack is a measure of the excess time and resources available to complete a task. It is the amount of time that a project task can be delayed without causing a delay in any subsequent tasks (free float) or the whole project (total float). Positive slack would indicate ahead of schedule; negative slack would indicate behind schedule; and zero slack would indicate on schedule. critical path: the longest possible continuous pathway taken from the initial event to the terminal event. It determines the total calendar time required for the project; and, therefore, any time delays along the critical path will delay the reaching of the terminal event by at least the same amount. critical activity: An activity that has total float equal to zero. An activity with zero float is not necessarily on the critical path since its path may not be the longest. Lead time: the time by which a predecessor event must be completed in order to allow sufficient time for the activities that must elapse before a specific PERT event reaches completion. lag time: the earliest time by which a successor event can follow a specific PERT event. fast tracking: performing more critical activities in parallel crashing critical path: Shortening duration of critical activities

Implementation

The first step to scheduling the project is to determine the tasks that the

project requires and the order in which they must be completed. The order may be easy to record for some tasks (e.g. When building a house, the land must be graded before the foundation can be laid) while difficult for others (There are two areas that need to be graded, but there are only enough bulldozers to do one). Additionally, the time estimates usually reflect the normal, non-rushed time. Many times, the time required to execute the task can be reduced for an additional cost or a reduction in the quality. In the following example there are seven tasks, labeled A through G. Some tasks can be done concurrently (A and B) while others cannot be done until their predecessor task is complete (C cannot begin until A is complete). Additionally, each task has three time estimates: the optimistic time estimate (O), the most likely or normal time estimate (M), and the pessimistic time estimate (P). The expected time (TE) is computed using the formula (O + 4M + P) 6.
Activity Predecessor A B C D E F G A A B, C D E Time estimates Expected time Opt. (O) Normal (M) Pess. (P) 2 4 6 4.00 3 5 9 5.33 4 5 7 5.17 4 6 10 6.33 4 5 7 5.17 3 4 8 4.50 3 5 8 5.17

Once this step is complete, one can draw a Gantt chart or a network diagram.

A Gantt chart created using Microsoft Project (MSP). Note (1) the critical path is in red, (2) the slack is the black lines connected to non-critical activities, (3) since Saturday and Sunday are not work days and are thus excluded from the schedule, some bars on the Gantt chart are longer if they cut through a weekend.

A Gantt chart created using OmniPlan. Note (1) the critical path is highlighted, (2) the slack is not specifically indicated on task 5 (d), though it can be observed on tasks 3 and 7 (b and f), (3) since weekends are indicated by a thin vertical line, and take up no additional space on the work calendar, bars on the Gantt chart are not longer or shorter when they do or don't carry over a weekend. A network diagram can be created by hand or by using diagram software. There are two types of network diagrams, activity on arrow (AOA) and activity on node (AON). Activity on node diagrams are generally easier to create and interpret. To create an AON diagram, it is recommended (but not required) to start with a node named start. This "activity" has a duration of zero (0). Then you draw each activity that does not have a predecessor activity (a and b in this example) and connect them with an arrow from start to each node. Next, since both c and d list a as a predecessor activity, their nodes are drawn with arrows coming from a. Activity e is listed with b and c as predecessor activities, so node e is drawn with arrows coming from both b and c, signifying that e cannot begin until both b and c have been completed. Activity f has d as a predecessor activity, so an arrow is drawn connecting the activities. Likewise, an arrow is drawn from e to g. Since there are no activities that come after f or g, it is recommended (but again not required) to connect them to a node labeled finish.

A node like this one (from Microsoft Visio) can be used to display the activity name, duration, ES, EF, LS, LF, and slack. By itself, the network diagram pictured above does not give much more information than a Gantt chart; however, it can be expanded to display more information. The most common information shown is: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The activity name The normal duration time The early start time (ES) The early finish time (EF) The late start time (LS) The late finish time (LF) 7. The slack In order to determine this information it is assumed that the activities and normal duration times are given. The first step is to determine the ES and EF. The ES is defined as the maximum EF of all predecessor activities, unless the activity in question is the first activity, for which the ES is zero (0). The EF is the ES plus the task duration (EF = ES + duration).

The ES for start is zero since it is the first activity. Since the duration is zero, the EF is also zero. This EF is used as the ES for a and b. The ES for a is zero. The duration (4 work days) is added to the ES to get an EF of four. This EF is used as the ES for c and d. The ES for b is zero. The duration (5.33 work days) is added to the ES to get an EF of 5.33. The ES for c is four. The duration (5.17 work days) is added to the ES to get an EF of 9.17. The ES for d is four. The duration (6.33 work days) is added to the ES to get an EF of 10.33. This EF is used as the ES for f.

The ES for e is the greatest EF of its predecessor activities (b and c). Since b has an EF of 5.33 and c has an EF of 9.17, the ES of e is 9.17. The duration (5.17 work days) is added to the ES to get an EF of 14.34. This EF is used as the ES for g. The ES for f is 10.33. The duration (4.5 work days) is added to the ES to get an EF of 14.83. The ES for g is 14.34. The duration (5.17 work days) is added to the ES to get an EF of 19.51. The ES for finish is the greatest EF of its predecessor activities (f and g). Since f has an EF of 14.83 and g has an EF of 19.51, the ES of finish is 19.51. Finish is a milestone (and therefore has a duration of zero), so the EF is also 19.51.

Barring any unforeseen events, the project should take 19.51 work days to complete. The next step is to determine the late start (LS) and late finish (LF) of each activity. This will eventually show if there are activities that have slack. The LF is defined as the minimum LS of all successor activities, unless the activity is the last activity, for which the LF equals the EF. The LS is the LF minus the task duration (LS = LF - duration).

The LF for finish is equal to the EF (19.51 work days) since it is the last activity in the project. Since the duration is zero, the LS is also 19.51 work days. This will be used as the LF for f and g. The LF for g is 19.51 work days. The duration (5.17 work days) is subtracted from the LF to get an LS of 14.34 work days. This will be used as the LF for e. The LF for f is 19.51 work days. The duration (4.5 work days) is subtracted from the LF to get an LS of 15.01 work days. This will be used as the LF for d. The LF for e is 14.34 work days. The duration (5.17 work days) is subtracted from the LF to get an LS of 9.17 work days. This will be used as the LF for b and c. The LF for d is 15.01 work days. The duration (6.33 work days) is subtracted from the LF to get an LS of 8.68 work days. The LF for c is 9.17 work days. The duration (5.17 work days) is subtracted from the LF to get an LS of 4 work days. The LF for b is 9.17 work days. The duration (5.33 work days) is subtracted from the LF to get an LS of 3.84 work days. The LF for a is the minimum LS of its successor activities. Since c has an LS of 4 work days and d has an LS of 8.68 work days, the LF for a

is 4 work days. The duration (4 work days) is subtracted from the LF to get an LS of 0 work days. The LF for start is the minimum LS of its successor activities. Since a has an LS of 0 work days and b has an LS of 3.84 work days, the LS is 0 work days.

The next step is to determine the critical path and if any activities have slack. The critical path is the path that takes the longest to complete. To determine the path times, add the task durations for all available paths. Activities that have slack can be delayed without changing the overall time of the project. Slack is computed in one of two ways, slack = LF - EF or slack = LS - ES. Activities that are on the critical path have a slack of zero (0).

The duration of path adf is 14.83 work days. The duration of path aceg is 19.51 work days. The duration of path beg is 15.67 work days.

The critical path is aceg and the critical time is 19.51 work days. It is important to note that there can be more than one critical path (in a project more complex than this example) or that the critical path can change. For example, let's say that activities d and f take their pessimistic (b) times to complete instead of their expected (TE) times. The critical path is now adf and the critical time is 22 work days. On the other hand, if activity c can be reduced to one work day, the path time for aceg is reduced to 15.34 work days, which is slightly less than the time of the new critical path, beg (15.67 work days). Assuming these scenarios do not happen, the slack for each activity can now be determined.

Start and finish are milestones and by definition have no duration, therefore they can have no slack (0 work days). The activities on the critical path by definition have a slack of zero; however, it is always a good idea to check the math anyway when drawing by hand. o LFa - EFa = 4 - 4 = 0 o LFc - EFc = 9.17 - 9.17 = 0 o LFe - EFe = 14.34 - 14.34 = 0 o LFg - EFg = 19.51 - 19.51 = 0

Activity b has an LF of 9.17 and an EF of 5.33, so the slack is 3.84 work days. Activity d has an LF of 15.01 and an EF of 10.33, so the slack is 4.68 work days. Activity f has an LF of 19.51 and an EF of 14.83, so the slack is 4.68 work days.

Therefore, activity b can be delayed almost 4 work days without delaying the project. Likewise, activity d or activity f can be delayed 4.68 work days without delaying the project (alternatively, d and f can be delayed 2.34 work days each).

6) Explain the use of finite queuing tables Ans:


The tables give the values of F and D for different values of N, M and X. They are arranged in the ascending order of the values of the population. For each N, the value of X increases from .001 to .950. For a given service factor X, several values of M can be found. For each value of X and M, values of D and F are tabulated. The steps in the use of Finite Queuing Tables may be summarized as follows: (i) Find mean service time T and mean running time U. (ii) Compute the service factor (iii) Select the table corresponding to the population N. (iv) For the given population, locate the service factor value. (v) Read off from tables, values of D and F for the number of service crews M. If necessary, these values may be interpolated between relevant values of X.

(vi) Calculate the other measures L, W, H, and J from the formulae given. The overall efficiency F of the system will increase with the number of service channels (M) provided. As mentioned earlier, addition of service crews involves cost, which should be justified by the increase in the efficiency of the system i.e. additional running time of machines possible. However, it will be seen from the tables that as M increase the rate of increase in efficiency decreases. The practical significance is that beyond a certain value of M, it is not worthwhile increasing M as there would be no appreciable increase in the efficiency of the system. Example: In a chemical plant there are five hoppers of the same size which give food to material to grinding mills. Due to changes in the requisite of material, there are variations in the time taken for emptying the hoppers. On the basis of past experience this time was found to follow negative exponential distribution with an average of 10 hours between getting emptied. Whenever a hopper gets empty it has to be filled by a pay loader. Although the capacity of the hoppers is the same, the time taken to fill the hoppers varies due to different locations from which the material is to be loaded. The time for filling the hopper also was found to follow negative exponential distribution with an average of 2.5 hours. The company hires the pay loaders at a cost of Rs. 100 per hour irrespective of whether it is operated or not. If the mill has to be stopped due to its hopper getting empty it costs Rs. 1000 per hour in terms of loss of profits. Determine the number of pay loaders which the company should engage to minimize overall cost. Solution: Since T = 2.5 and U = 10

For N = 5, X = 0.200 we have the following values from the tables:

We now prepare a table as below: Table

As increasing the number of pay loaders beyond two reduces profits, the company should engage only two pay loaders.

5) Write down the basic difference between PERT and CPM.

Ans:

CPM: CPM was developed by Du Pont and the emphasis was on the trade-off between the cost of the project and its overall completion time (e.g. for certain activities it may be possible to decrease their completion times by spending more money - how does this affect the overall completion time of the project?) In CPM activities are shown as a network of precedence relationships using activity-on-node network construction Single estimate of activity time Deterministic activity times USED IN : Production management - for the jobs of repetitive in nature where the activity time estimates can be predicted with considerable certainty due to the existence of past experience. PERT: PERT was developed by the US Navy for the planning and control of the Polaris missile program and the emphasis was on completing the program in the shortest possible time. In addition PERT had the ability to cope with uncertain activity completion times (e.g. for a particular activity the most likely completion time is 4 weeks but it could be anywhere between 3 weeks and 8 weeks). Basic difference between PERT and CPM: Though there are no essential differences between PERT and CPM as both of them share in common the determination of a critical path and are based on the network representation of activities and their scheduling that determines the most critical activities to be controlled so as to meet the completion date of the project. PERT: 1. Since PERT was developed in connection with an R and D work, therefore it had to cope with the uncertainties which are associated with R and D activities. In PERT, total project duration is regarded as a random variable and therefore associated probabilities are calculated so as to characterize it. 2. It is an event-oriented network because in the analysis of network emphasis is given an important stages of completion of task rather than the activities required to be performed to reach to a particular event or task.

3. PERT is normally used for projects involving activities of non-repetitive nature in which time estimates are uncertain. 4. It helps in pinpointing critical areas in a project so that necessary adjustment can be made to meet the scheduled completion date of the project. CPM: 1. Since CPM was developed in connection with a construction project which consisted of routine tasks whose resources requirement and duration was known with certainty, therefore it is basically deterministic. 2. CPM is suitable for establishing a trade-off for optimum balancing between schedule time and cost of the project. 3. CPM is used for projects involving activities of repetitive nature.

6) Explain Erlang family of distributions of service times Ans:


Erlang Family of Distribution of Service Times Queuing processes discussed so far are mathematically simple. When assuming that the service time follows negative exponential distribution, we were also taking that its standard deviation is equal to its mean. As there would be situations where the mean and the standard deviation substantially differ, the models have to be made more general by using a distribution which conforms closely to the practical problems but yet retains the simplicity of the properties of negative exponential distribution. A.K. Erlang had first studied such a distribution. Consider the distribution of a service time involving a fixed number of phases k, each phase having a negative exponential distribution. If there are k phases, and the average time taken by a customer through each phase is units, the service time distribution f(t) is given by

The mean of this distribution is

and standard deviation is

If k = 1, f (f) = mem1 which is the negative exponential distribution; same as the models considered earlier. For k = 2, and so on.

The mode is located at t = If k =

the variance is zero and this corresponds to a case where the service

time is constant and has value The Figure below shows the way the density functions varies as k increases.

The measures of efficiency should take into account the number of customers getting service, number having entered any one or more of the phases, and the number yet to join. For arrivals following Poisson distribution, with mean l and service time following the kth Erlang distribution with mean, the formulae applicable are given in Table below

Table Formulae for Poisson Arrivals, Service with k phases, each phase having a negative exponential distribution

Average queue length

Average number of units in the system Average waiting time Average time spent in the system For constant service time, equating k to

Example In a restaurant the customers will have to pass through three counters. At the first counter the customers buy Coupons at the second they select and collect the snacks to be taken, and at the, third they collect coffee or tea as required. The server at each counter takes on an average two minutes although the distribution of the time of service is approximately exponential. If the arrivals of customers to the restaurant are approximately Poisson at an average rate of six per hour, what is the average time spent by a customer waiting in the restaurant? What is the average time of getting the service? What is the most probable time spent in getting the service? Solution

This is a queuing process with service time following Erlang distribution. No. of phases k = 3

Therefore m = 1/6 persons per minute l = 6 persons per hour = 1/10 person per minute

(i) Average waiting time = = 6 minutes (ii) Average time spent in collecting coupons, snacks, etc = = 6 minutes

(iii) Most probable time spent in collecting coupons, snacks etc = Modal value = = 4 minutes

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